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Quiet is Not Silence

 Ananya Ravikumar Dec 2019

 Quiet is not silence 
It is the chirp of crickets on a warm summer night,
and the rushing sound of leaves swaying in the breeze.

Quiet is not silence
 It is the whirr of the ceiling fan on a lazy summer afternoon
and the comfortable buzz that sounds fade into as you get a little sleepy.

Quiet is not silence 
It is the patter of those first raindrops hitting the ground, 
the gurgling of the water fountain,
and the sound of the sea

No, I don’t think quiet is silence 
It is the azan on a distant loudspeaker, 
the sound of the conch from a morning prayer,
the shrill whistle of a pressure cooker,
the rumble of traffic,
the unintelligible cries of street vendors,
the screams of children at play 
- the sounds I grew up with - 
the absence of which I try so hard to drown out,
In search of that peace and quiet.
Ananya Ravikumar
April 2020

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